We eat a ton of ready-to-eat salads in our house! A salad and some salmon steamed in the Instant Pot is the perfect meal in my book. It's both healthy and convenient.
As you likely recall, in May of 2018, there was a romaine lettuce recall that was the biggest outbreak since 2006, where nearly 200 romaine lettuce eaters got sick, and by the time it was over, half of them were hospitalized, and five people died. That didn’t deter me from my leafy greens, but after yet another conversation about the dangers of ready-to-eat (RTE) salads, I decided to look into them further. Do the benefits outweigh the risks?
Concerns about ready-to-eat salads:
Healthline lists uncooked vegetables and leafy greens in its “top 9 sources” of food poisoning. According to the CDC, leafy greens are now just as likely (22% of cases) to cause food born illness as meat. E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria et al can contaminate vegetables and leafy greens at various stages of the supply chain. British scientists found that even during refrigeration, salad juices (as in pre-cut bagged salads), enhanced Salmonella growth, so that it increased its growth by up to 280-fold compared to sterile water. The juices also better enabled the bacteria to attach to the sides of the plastic bags, as well as to the leaves, and made it more difficult to wash off as reported in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash
In addition to RTE salads being highly susceptible to bacteria growth, and causing short-term illness, research has suggested that these infections can have a long-term impact, including increased chances for reactive arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, probably due to the lack of a healthy gut biome and issues with the gut lining.
reasons not to be overly concerned:
For individuals who are in good health, they have reason to be less concerned. For example, those with a healthy and diverse gut microbiome will likely crowd out bad bacteria. Also, simply eating a diet rich in leafy greens and other produce may help protect our gut against inflammation, which is known to enable bacterial toxins to enter the bloodstream more easily.
Scientists are not overly concerned, nor have they found that re-washing our pre-washed salads to generally be helpful. Ready-to-eat salads are a terrific ways to get us closer to our healthy eating goals, because of their ease and simplicity. Although, not completely risk free, it is likely that for most the pros out way the cons. "Our research does not indicate any increased risk to eating leafy salads, but it does provide a better understanding of the factors contributing to food poisoning risks and highlights the need for continued good practices in preparation," says Primrose Freestone, PhD, co-author of the study.
RTE Salad Eating Tips:
Pay Attention to the Use-By Date: Eat the lettuce as early as possible, and for sure earlier than the use-by date, in order to limit the time in which bacteria can multiply.
Avoid Bags with Mushy/Slimy Leaves or Swollen Bags: These are all clues that there is a “bacteria party” going on!
Promptly Refrigerate Salad Greens: Refrigeration will not stop the growth of certain strains, but will stop or slow down bacteria growth overall.
Avoid Buying Sprouts: While not technically a leafy green, and are known to be very healthy, sprouts are probably the riskiest plant food, since they’re grown in warm and wet conditions.
Analyze Your Personal Risk Tolerance: Some are comfortable with the overall low odds of serious food poisoning complications, while others aren’t. Consider your current healthy status, and whether you might be better off eating cooked vegetables at this time.
I plan to do my best to follow this advice, and keep eating my bagged salads. In fact, 85% of the US food poisoning outbreaks, during a 10 year period, that were caused by leafy greens were traced back to food prepared in a restaurant or catering facility, so if I were to do any eliminating, I’d skip the restaurant or catered leafy greens.
“Our research does not indicate any increased risk to eating leafy salads, but it does provide a better understanding of the factors contributing to food poisoning risks and highlights the need for continued good practices in preparation,”
Wendy Dellis is a certified wellness coach. She joins years of training and work in the area of behavior change, experience as a fitness instructor and run club coordinator with a passion for adventure and people. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jay, and two sons.
Family Dinner. 2019
The information contained on this page is for general information purposes only. Nothing here should be construed as medical or healthcare advice, but only topics for discussion. No physician-patient relationship exists; please consult your physician before making changes in diet or lifestyle.